How do you afford all of these cruises?

[isujim]

Yup. We all decide either consciously or unconsciously how to spend out money

 

 

never mind............

[mshimko]

Initially there is the cabin (plus taxes, fees, perhaps insurance)

 

Then - add transportation as necessary

 

Then - add what you spend on-board and at ports: drinks, gambling/entertainment, excursions, gifts.

 

Last - prices of cruises seem to vary enomously for reasons that are beyond me. For example, a 12-nite cruise to the eastern caribbean in Decembeer 2010 was LESS than $399 pp for an inside cabin, and only about $1400 pp for a junior suite. The same cruise in 2011 was significantly more. I'd consider a $399 pp cruise (even with about an additional $85 in fees) for 12-nights of free entertainment, food, a decnet cabin, and really good port opportunities to be a GREAT deal.

 

...Back on topic - you can easily book a very basic budget cruise with an inside cabin, and you get the same food, the same pool, the same sunshine, and the same entertainmentr as those in suites BTW - I've been in both, and have enjoyed both).

[carolmacey]

I've wondered the same thing myself! Maybe some stay in inside cabins and don't drink??? That would be pretty ecinomical.

 

You guessed it!

We get inside cabins, but spend very little time in them. Sleep and shower is about it.

We don't gamble, we drink just a bit.

[navybankerteacher]

There are two requirements to being able to cruise frequently:

 

A) Sufficient time off -- either have a job with many weeks vacation or be retired (perhaps why there are so many of us old folks that many of the younger cruisers mention as bringing the average age to 65).

 

B) Sufficient disposable discretionary income -- the result of sufficient gross income coupled with the self discipline to set priorities and not fritter money away on small things.

 

Both categories require a mix of good luck and self discipline (setting money aside during the year if working - or, if retired, having set money aside during working years).

[zcorvette1989]

There are two requirements to being able to cruise frequently:

 

A) Sufficient time off -- either have a job with many weeks vacation or be retired (perhaps why there are so many of us old folks that many of the younger cruisers mention as bringing the average age to 65).

 

B) Sufficient disposable discretionary income -- the result of sufficient gross income coupled with the self discipline to set priorities and not fritter money away on small things.

 

Both categories require a mix of good luck and self discipline (setting money aside during the year if working - or, if retired, having set money aside during working years).

 

I totally agree. I found the perfect job for both working and vacationing. We try to cruise at least twice a year. My boyfriend is retried at 41, and I work part time in the school system at 31. We couldn't ask for a better way of life. However, we do watch the prices of each cruise we choose. We go on the travel websites, and we choose our cruises based on itinerary and months.

 

Our parents are jealous, because they had to "work" in order to save for their vacations for when they retired. But, then again, the 1960's-1970's, in my parent's case, was a different way of life. My mom's a retired fifth grade teacher, and my dad's a retired firefighter. They both choose to cruise a lot now that they're both only working part time, and can take time off.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I've wondered the same thing myself! Maybe some stay in inside cabins and don't drink??? That would be pretty ecinomical.

YES YES inside only no drinks and we get every credit there is .

[paddingtonbear]

Can someone please tell me what a D+ member is?

[cruiselover57]

So, here's my 2 cents worth:

 

1. Been on 78 cruises since 1972 (no, I'm not lying either) yet I don't post every single cruise I've been on (I only post the upcoming ones).

2. No, I'm not retired (from from it)! Still work to enjoy the finer things in life such as cruising!

3. We have 3 booked for this year (normally we average around 2).

4. We never book a suite, mini-suite or balcony (normally we will book inside cabins so we can go more often - we're hardly in the cabin anyway)! We did make an exception though on an upcoming cruise to get a balcony because they were giving great deals (Princess) and we also received 4 upgrades - how's $685 PP for a great balcony cabin on the Sapphire Princess sound?! Good to me for sure! No air to worry about as it's doing the Coast CA route and we live locally so another great thing!

5. We're Elite on Princess so while others have paid quite a bit more than us, we enjoy many of the perks that come with being Elite.

6. We try to use points on cruise line's credit cards to get a statement credit or OBC which saves quite a bit.

7. We would never travel any other way - cruising is the ultimate vacation!

 

I hope that sums it up! Forgot to mention - we will hardly ever have a bar bill (we never order beverages but do bring on our own water and wine) so that helps a lot!

[Putterdude]

Lived within our means, saved, invested well and now spending the children's inheritance....if there is anything left for them when we are gone, well something very drastically went wrong with the plan.:D

[kelmac]

So, here's my 2 cents worth:

 

1. Been on 78 cruises since 1972 (no, I'm not lying either) yet I don't post every single cruise I've been on (I only post the upcoming ones).

2. No, I'm not retired (from from it)! Still work to enjoy the finer things in life such as cruising!

3. We have 3 booked for this year (normally we average around 2).

4. We never book a suite, mini-suite or balcony (normally we will book inside cabins so we can go more often - we're hardly in the cabin anyway)! We did make an exception though on an upcoming cruise to get a balcony because they were giving great deals (Princess) and we also received 4 upgrades - how's $685 PP for a great balcony cabin on the Sapphire Princess sound?! Good to me for sure! No air to worry about as it's doing the Coast CA route and we live locally so another great thing!

5. We're Elite on Princess so while others have paid quite a bit more than us, we enjoy many of the perks that come with being Elite.

6. We try to use points on cruise line's credit cards to get a statement credit or OBC which saves quite a bit.

7. We would never travel any other way - cruising is the ultimate vacation!

 

I hope that sums it up! Forgot to mention - we will hardly ever have a bar bill (we never order beverages but do bring on our own water and wine) so that helps a lot!

 

Do you only cruise Princess?

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[isujim]

Can someone please tell me what a D+ member is?

 

Diamond Plus on Royal Caribbean.

[Travelcat2]

Lived within our means, saved, invested well and now spending the children's inheritance....if there is anything left for them when we are gone, well something very drastically went wrong with the plan.:D

 

Love the way you think:)

[cruiselover57]

Do you only cruise Princess?

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

 

Hi Kel,

 

No, we alternate mostly between Princess (#1), RCI and Carnival (yes Carnival!) We love that cruise line too but lately Princess seems to have some pretty good deals and as mentioned, the perks are great! I like knowing we can get our clothes cleaned so we can take a bit less and they'll do the dry cleaning too! Of course our son loves the free one-time mini-bar set up (they'll set it up twice if you're doing a B2B cruise)! I like the free internet time too (so that means we all get free time). Princess has great pizza too!

[cruiselover57]

Can someone please tell me what a D+ member is?

 

I think it means 25 cruises or more on RCI. We're currently Diamond and they've created 2 other classes above that being Diamond + and Pinnacle. It might be changed to credits now so if you go on a 2-week cruise, you earn 2 credits (I think I might have something like 18 credits so I'm a ways away toward getting to the next level). RCI's perks are not as good as Princes (maybe one day they'll over free laundry!). I think we got some free internet time when we were on the Freedom of the Seas last year.

[kelmac]

I think it means 25 cruises or more on RCI. We're currently Diamond and they've created 2 other classes above that being Diamond + and Pinnacle. It might be changed to credits now so if you go on a 2-week cruise, you earn 2 credits (I think I might have something like 18 credits so I'm a ways away toward getting to the next level). RCI's perks are not as good as Princes (maybe one day they'll over free laundry!). I think we got some free internet time when we were on the Freedom of the Seas last year.

 

Since you are Diamond on RCI, you could cruise Celebrity at the Elite Level. That gets you free internet, free laundry, and free happy hour drinks in Michael's Club 5 -- 7pm. Always thought of Celebrity as a step up from Princess and certainly their ships are less crowded. Just a thought.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[jmcruisers0630]

I WISH my hubby & I could cruise a few times a year. We take 1 cruise a year (adding 1+ days each year), & even that is a lot to some people.

We live in Florida & don't have kids (BIG +). We ALWAYS book an inside cabin, since we are never in it, & we recently paid off a bunch of credit cards. So leading up to the cruise, we save for onboard spending money with CASH. :)

We both have vacation time. Even if we didn't, we would save up enough so that we can still pay our bills for those days that we don't work, even if it means drinking less, etc.

[esimon]

so enjoy everyon's comments -- and differences -- we take less cruises because we want the balcony - might go back to a window but can't imagine cruising in a closet (inside) we like our room and while we aren't in it much -- want to see outside, the scenery etc.

Getting ready for our first Regent cruise -- all inclusive, hope I'm not spoiled cause we won't do this often

 

I do love cruising and seeing the world from the sea

[jmcruisers0630]

According to my coworker I am a millionaire because I cruise once a year. Lol. Really dh and I have no children and we both make a pretty decent salary so we are able to do this once a year plus other vacations throughout the year. As to vacation time I get 4 weeks dh 5 weeks. All our family live close so no traveling time to see them.

 

That's how we do it :)

 

That's so funny, because according to our friends, we are millionaires because we cruise once a year, as well! lol We also don't have kids, so we can afford to go while school is in.

[03yrb]

Interesting thread! I wanted to chime in here as one for the parents:). I see a lot of responses about those that don't have children and/or single and thus have more income. Well, there are parents who can enjoy all that too :)

 

Single parent here, 3 weeks vacation standard at my job in my current position, child about to be 5 (so yes daycare expenses) and we take 3 separate vacations a year. Albeit, not all cruises but vacations that cost just as much if not more than a cruise. I shall see if my little one likes doing this, then we can plan more for the future! Personally, I'd rather have money to travel than the latest iphone or whatever gadget is out there :p

 

At any rate, I think it all depends on how one manages their money. I know plenty of single/childless people that can't save a penny if their lives depended on it.

[kelmac]

Interesting thread! I wanted to chime in here as one for the parents:). I see a lot of responses about those that don't have children and/or single and thus have more income. Well, there are parents who can enjoy all that too :)

 

Single parent here, 3 weeks vacation standard at my job in my current position, child about to be 5 (so yes daycare expenses) and we take 3 separate vacations a year. Albeit, not all cruises but vacations that cost just as much if not more than a cruise. I shall see if my little one likes doing this, then we can plan more for the future! Personally, I'd rather have money to travel than the latest iphone or whatever gadget is out there :p

 

At any rate, I think it all depends on how one manages their money. I know plenty of single/childless people that can't save a penny if their lives depended on it.

 

03,

 

Well stated and good for you! :) Welcome to cruise critic and your insights are welcomed. Being a single parent must be a daunting task, but you seem to be handling it well.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[zcorvette1989]

However, that's not the reason we cruise a lot. We haven't started our family for certain reasons. We love children, and spend a lot of time devoted to our nieces and nephews, and great nieces and nephews. We have one niece who has two children of her own, and she and her husband cruise Carnival all the time. I'm almost 32, and our niece is 43. My boyfriend's almost 42. Our other niece, who's 40, doesn't take her three kids on cruises, but we're trying to convince the family we should all go on a cruise together, since we all love to travel. Hopefully, they will come around soon, so we can all enjoy it. Cruising with kids is one of the best ways to go. They're not that much more to add to the fare, and they always have so much fun! Plus, they have a lot they can tell their friends when they return.

[03yrb]

03,

 

Well stated and good for you! :) Welcome to cruise critic and your insights are welcomed. Being a single parent must be a daunting task, but you seem to be handling it well.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

 

 

Thanks Kel for the warm welcome! It can be daunting but it's twice rewarding;) One of my friends who cruises a lot with her hubby directed me to the site to be able to read up on some good info about cruising in general, so I look forward to learning more.

[Ima Cruiser]

My husband and I don't have children in the house - he has adults. Both of us work very well paying jobs. I am a contractor so I get paid more and can take time off whenever work is not busy. We prefer not to buy each other gifts for Christmas, Birthdays, Anniversaries and save the money for traveling. My husband gets free premium cable as a perk from his company and so we never go out to the movies. We also always buy used cars with low miles and drive them for at least 8 years. I can work from home which saves on commuter costs.

 

Plus, sometimes its about points and loyalty. We are million miles plus status on United and will book them whenever possible as they tend to upgrade us very often. On Princess we have Platinum status which gets us a booking discount. I also have the Princess Visa and we already have about $500 shipboard credit prior to our trip in December.

 

Basically - everything adds up but I would have to say that you can go on a couple cruises a year if you keep your eyes open for good dealing and have a flexible schedule.

[Travelcat2]

so enjoy everyon's comments -- and differences -- we take less cruises because we want the balcony - might go back to a window but can't imagine cruising in a closet (inside) we like our room and while we aren't in it much -- want to see outside, the scenery etc.

Getting ready for our first Regent cruise -- all inclusive, hope I'm not spoiled cause we won't do this often

 

I do love cruising and seeing the world from the sea

 

You'll definitely be spoiled but you no doubt deserve it:)

[paul929207]

Another thing we do is to get all the points and freebees we can:

 

We sail mostly with Princess, so we always have several of the Future Cruise Credits. So we get OBC on every cruise.

 

We own 100 shares of Carnival Corporation stock. So we get OBC on every cruise.

 

We charge everything. So we get points to pay for air. We pay the bill in full every month.

 

We have sailed enough with Princess to get the top perks. Things like a little more OBC, an internet credit and free laundry.